Contemporary human behavior theory a critical perspective for social work practice whats new in soci

Contemporary Human Behavior Theory: A Critical Perspective for Social Work Practice, (What’s New in Social Work) 4th Edition, (Ebook PDF) Visit to download the full and correct content document: https://ebookmass.com/product/contemporary-human-behavior-theory-a-critical-persp ective-for-social-work-practice-whats-new-in-social-work-4th-edition-ebook-pdf/

mental health, and disabilities. For more than 40 years, Professor Canda has been exploring insights from Eastern philosophy for social welfare..

He has about 200 publications and has conducted about 230 presentations in the United States and in many other countries, especially in East Asia and Central Europe. His widely cited co-authored book, Spiritual Diversity in Social Work Practice (1999/2010) was published by Oxford University Press. In 2013, he received the Council on Social Work Education’s Significant Lifetime Achievement Award for innovations on spirituality through scholarship and education.

George Stuart Leibowitz, Ph.D., LICSW, is Professor at Stony Brook University, School of Social Welfare in New York, where he teaches human behavior in the social environment and courses on trauma, substance abuse, and clinical practice. He is Chair of the Integrated Health program, and is Project Director for the 2017 HRSA Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training grant. Dr. Leibowitz’s research agenda includes understanding and addressing addictions among underserved populations; restorative justice; and assessment and interventions with juveniles with sexually harmful behavior. He has published research articles in journals such as Trauma and Dissociation, Criminal Justice and Behavior, and Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. He recently co-edited the 2nd edition of Forensic Social Work: Psychosocial and Legal Issues Across Diverse Populations and Settings published by Springer Publishing in 2017.

CHAPTER CO-AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS W. Andrew Achenbaum Professor Emeritus University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work Brené Brown, PhD Huffington Brené Brown Endowed Chair Research Professor University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work Thomas M. Brown, PsyD Psychologist Des Moines, IA David Lawson Burton, MSW, PhD Associate Professor, Retired Smith College School for Social Work Graciela Couchonnal, PhD

Vice President of Programs Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City Elena Delavega Associate Professor University of Memphis Cynthia Franklin, PhD, LCSW, LMFT Professor University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work Lorraine Gutiérrez, PhD Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, School of Social Work and Department of Psychology University of Michigan David Hussey, PhD Associate Professor Case Western Reserve University Becca Keo-Meier, MSW, ABD Research Assistant University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work Beverly McPhail, PhD

Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council Houston, TX Mende Snodgress, JD, LCSW Assistant Deputy Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program, The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD Houston, TX Kim Strom-Gottfried, PhD Director, Office of Ethics Education and Policy Management and Smith P. Theimann Jr. Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Professional Practice University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work Joanne Yaffe, PhD Professor University of Utah College of Social Work

FOREWORD There’s no single word that strikes fear into the hearts and minds of social work students like the word theory. It sounds academic and inaccessible.

And worse, theories feel so far removed from the passion that drives us to this profession. As a BSW and MSW student, I remember thinking, I came to affect change, not to theorize about it.

As a first-semester doctoral student, nothing scared me as much as theory.

While I tried to play it cool, my disdain for what I called “the litany of dead, white guy theories” must have been obvious because during my second week of school, I got busted.

Two minutes after sitting down in my philosophy of science course my professor asked me how I got to school that morning. I could smell a setup so I quickly answered, “In my car.”

He smiled. “No. What route did you take?” he asked.

After delivering a detailed explanation of my route to my professor and my confused classmates, he paused and asked, “Why? Why did you take that route this morning? There must be five different ways to get here from your neighborhood.”

I explained how my hacks and shortcuts saved me time and frustration in the Houston traffic. His response? “So, you have a theory on the best way to get to school on Tuesday mornings?”

There it was.

I laughed and said, “I guess that depends on how you define theory!”

That’s the moment I was introduced to this definition of theory—a definition from behavioral researcher Fred Kerlinger (1973) that would literally set the trajectory of my career. “A theory is a set of interrelated constructs or concepts, definitions, and propositions that present a

systematic view of phenomena specifying relations among variables, with the purpose of explaining and predicting the phenomena” (p. 9).

The lesson that day was simple: We operate from theories all day long.

Theories inform everything from how we get to work in the morning to what we believe about a person’s capacity for meaningful change.

Sometimes we rely on theories developed by other people, and sometimes we develop our own set of concepts, definitions, and propositions to systematically explain what we see and believe.

The lesson was also powerful. Theory building is not the purview of men in white lab coats. I had as much right to construct and present theories as anyone else. And, I learned that I also had a responsibility to understand and make explicit the theories that informed how I understand the world, the clients I serve, and the social justice issues that drive my passion.

Dr. Susan Robbins was one of my professors in my fateful second year in the doctoral program. She introduced me to a world of theory that I didn’t even know existed. It was a world of theories that reflected my reality, my experiences, and my passions. And, she empowered us to critically evaluate each of these theories and question how and why they were constructed.

The first edition of this book has long been my go-to reference for theory.

In this edition (as well as each revision since then), Robbins, Chatterjee, Canda, and Leibowitz have continued to add greatly to our growing knowledge base of theory. Once you see yourself as a participant in theory construction and criticism rather than a passive consumer of other people’s ideas, things shift. Rather than seeing theory as something separate from what you love about the social work profession, it becomes the invitation and path to your passion.

Brené Brown, Ph.D. Huffington Brené Brown Endowed Chair Research Professor

University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work

PREFACE In revising this textbook for the fourth edition, we retained the overall structure of the first three editions and added new theory content that we believe is critical for social work practice in the 21st century. In addition to many chapter updates, exciting new additions to the theory base are: The addition of Social Capital Theory in Chapter 4 New and expanded content on Wilber’s full integral theory in Chapter 13 Revised content on successful aging and gerotranscendence in Chapter 8 New and expanded content on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and intersex (LGBTQI+) persons’ development and empowerment in Chapter 4 and 8. Revised with gender identity affirming language A major revision of material on Phenomenology, Social Constructionism, and Hermeneutics in Chapter 11.

Case vignettes and exercises for application to practice There is no question that human behavior is complex. It is this very complexity that makes it difficult to design a single textbook that adequately covers the knowledge base necessary for courses or content in what has traditionally been the Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE) curricular area. Most textbooks are based on either a social-systems perspective or a life-span development approach, although some have now attempted to incorporate a slightly broader range of theory while retaining an overall systemic or life-span approach. Books utilizing a social-systems perspective typically have been organized according to systems levels; thus, content on individuals, groups, families, organizations, institutions, and communities has been divided into

separate chapters. In contrast, those texts utilizing a life-span approach have been organized the same way as life-span textbooks found in psychology, with each chapter reflecting a different stage of the life span.

Although systems theory and developmental theory are important components of human behavior knowledge, we believe that by themselves, they reflect a rather narrow and individualistic definition of human behavior and an underlying ideology that is, at its heart, politically conservative.

We wrote this textbook with several purposes in mind. First, we hope to broaden the scope of our social-work knowledge base about human behavior. Rather than relying on the largely psychological (and traditional) approach to human behavior that utilizes a person-in-environment framework, we have adopted a broader definition of human behavior that focuses on the person and the environment, giving equal focus to each.

Second, we hope to expand our theoretical base in understanding human behavior. We have chosen a multidisciplinary theoretical approach that incorporates relevant theory from a variety of social and human science disciplines that have traditionally been omitted from most HBSE textbooks.

Third, we hope to illuminate the fact that all knowledge about human behavior is socially constructed and thus is inherently value-laden and ideological. As such, our knowledge base reflects the values, concerns, and ideologies of not only the authors constructing theories and studies but also the prevalent values, concerns, and ideologies of the existing social order (historical or contemporary).

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we hope to encourage critical thinking about the knowledge and theories that we choose for practice. To accomplish this, we believe that it is important to use consistent standards to evaluate each theory and to provide a discussion and critique of alternative views and an analysis of the social, ideological, and economic structures of society that impact individual problems. Most often, critical thought and analysis of this nature have been omitted from human behavior textbooks in social work.

Above all, we hope that this book will be intellectually challenging to BSW, MSW, and PhD students alike and that it will encourage you, the reader, to question some of your most deeply held assumptions about why people behave the way they do and to better understand the role of various influences on human behavior.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book would not have become a reality without the support and assistance of many people. First and foremost, we thank Carolyn Brooks, who provided consistent secretarial support and encouragement throughout this entire first edition of this project. In addition, we would like to thank Darlyne Bailey, Hwi-Ja Canda, Manjirnath Chatterjee, Marian Chatterjee, Jim Daniel, Richard L. Edwards, Bob Fisher, Howard Goldstein (in memoriam), Karen S. Haynes, Karen A. Holmes, Darlene Hurt, Joe Kotarba, Daniel B. Lee, Walter Lee, Elizabeth Loftus, Carole Marmell, Holly Nelson-Becker, Joe Paull (in memoriam), Bill Simon (in memoriam), Jack Taylor, Terri Thomason, and Ann Weick (in memoriam).

Thanks to Sachiko Gomi for assistance with literature search and to Heather Larkin for a careful review of Chapter 12. Thanks as well to R. Anna Hayward-Everson who offered helpful feedback based on students’ response to the revision of Chapter 11. We are also indebted to our many students and colleagues who gave us feedback on the early drafts of these chapters.

We also acknowledge our chapter co-authors and contributors W. Andrew Achenbaum, Brené Brown, Thomas M. Brown, David Lawson Burton, Graciela Couchonnal, Elena Delavega, Cynthia Franklin, Lorraine Gutiérrez, David Hussey, Becca Keo-Meier, Beverly McPhail, Mende Snodgress, Kim Strom-Gottfried, and Joanne Yaffe. We would also like to acknowledge chapter contributors to previous editions of this book, Barbara Becker (in memoriam), Fernando J. Galan (in memoriam), James McDonnell, and Fred Richardson.

In addition, we express our gratitude to the songwriters who contributed their lyrics to the book chapters: Rick Beresford, Bobby Bridger, Chris Chandler, Allen Damron (in memoriam), Jim Daniel, Tom Dundee, Michael Elwood, Anne Feeney, Rex Foster, Tim Henderson (in memoriam), Anne Hills, Rod MacDonald, Susan Martin, Bill Muse, Phil Rockstroh, David Roth, Hans Theessink, and Bill Ward. Special thanks also go to Lendell Braud, Blair Powell (in memoriam), and the Conroe

Association of Live Music, and to Rod Kennedy (in memoriam), Nancylee Kennedy, Dalis Allen, and the Kerrville Folk Festival.

Thanks to the reviewers who offered insight into updating this edition: James Marley, Loyola University Chicago and Kevin Murphy, Keuka College.

BRIEF CONTENTS 1. Chapter 1 The Nature of Theories 1 2. Chapter 2 Systems Theory 26 3. Chapter 3 Conflict Theories 62 4. Chapter 4 Theories of Empowerment and Social Capital 90 5. Chapter 5 Feminist Theory 123 6. Chapter 6 Theories of Assimilation, Acculturation, Bicultural Socialization, and Ethnic Minority Identity 150 7. Chapter 7 Psychodynamic Theory 187 8. Chapter 8 Theories of Life Span Development 220 9. Chapter 9 Theories of Cognitive, Moral, and Faith Development 281 10. Chapter 10 Symbolic Interaction 319 11. Chapter 11 Phenomenology, Social Constructionism, and Hermeneutics 345 12. Chapter 12 Behaviorism, Social Learning, and Exchange Theory 368 13. Chapter 13 Transpersonal and Integral Theories 401 14. Chapter 14 Application of Theories 436

CONTENTS 1. Chapter 1 The Nature of Theories 1 1. Organization of the Book and Rationale for Selection of Theories 2 2. Why Study Theories of Human Behavior? 4 3. Theories: What Are They? 6 4. What is Meta-Theory and What is its Application for Social Work? 7 5. The Social Construction of Theories 8 6. Ideology, Scientific Theory, and Social Work Practice 9 7. Determinism and Reductionism: A Problem of Social Construction 14 8. Theories: Application to Practice 15 9. Critical Analysis of Theory: The Missing Dimension 17 10. An Afterthought: Paths to Human Knowledge 24 1. Summary 24 2. Chapter 2 Systems Theory 26 1. Historical Context 26 2. Key Concepts 28 3. Structural Functionalism 30

4. The Ecological Perspective 32 5. Dynamic Systems Theory 36 6. Deep Ecology 44 7. Ecofeminism 46 8. Contemporary Issues 47 9. Application to Social Work Practice 49 10. Critical Analysis 55 11. Consistency with Social Work Values 57 12. Philosophical Underpinnings 58 13. Methodological Issues and Empirical Support 58 1. Summary 59 3. Chapter 3 Conflict Theories 62 1. Historical Context 62 2. Key Concepts 63 3. Class Conflict 64 4. Roads from Marx 68 5. Contemporary Issues 76 6. Application to Social Work Practice 79 7. Critical Analysis 83 8. Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics 85

9. Philosophical Underpinnings 86 10. Methodological Issues and Empirical Support 86 1. Summary 88 4. Chapter 4 Theories of Empowerment and Social Capital 90 1. Historical Context 91 2. Key Concepts 92 3. Stratification, Oppression, and Inequality: The Sociopolitical Context of Empowerment Theories 92 4. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, and Intersex Empowerment Theories 95 5. Social Work Empowerment Theories 99 6. Social Capital Theory 102 7. Historical Context 102 8. Key Concepts 103 9. Contexts for Social Capital 105 10. Criticism of Social Capital Theory 106 11. Social Capital as Empowering 108 12. Contemporary Issues 109 13. Application to Social Work Practice 110 14. Critical Analysis 115 15. Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics 118

16. Philosophical Underpinnings 119 17. Methodological Issues and Empirical Support 120 1. Summary 121 5. Chapter 5 Feminist Theory 123 1. Historical Context 124 2. Key Concepts 126 3. Feminist Theories 133 4. Contemporary Thought in Feminist Theory 135 5. Contemporary Issues 141 6. Application to Social Work Practice 141 7. Critical Analysis 144 8. Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics 146 9. Philosophical Underpinnings 147 10. Methodological Issues and Empirical Support 147 1. Summary 148 6. Chapter 6 Theories of Assimilation, Acculturation, Bicultural Socialization, and Ethnic Minority Identity 150 1. Historical Context 150 2. Key Concepts 153 3. Deficiency Theory 156 4. The Dual Perspective 157

5. Bicultural Socialization 159 6. Ethnic, Racial/Cultural, and Minority Identity 160 7. A Multidimensional Transactional Model of Bicultural Identity 162 8. Transculturality 171 9. Cultural Competence 173 10. Contemporary Issues 175 11. Application to Social Work Practice 177 12. Critical Analysis 182 13. Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics 182 14. Philosophical Underpinnings 183 15. Methodological Issues and Empirical Support 184 1. Summary 185 7. Chapter 7 Psychodynamic Theory 187 1. Historical Context 187 2. Key Concepts 188 3. Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalysis 188 4. The Conscious, Preconscious, and Unconscious 189 5. Roads from Freud 194 6. The Freudian Mainstream 195 7. The Freudian Left 204

8. Contemporary Issues 206 9. Application to Social Work Practice 209 10. Critical Analysis 212 11. Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics 214 12. Philosophical Underpinnings 215 13. Methodological Issues and Empirical Support 216 1. Summary 218 8. Chapter 8 Theories of Life Span Development 220 1. Historical Context 220 2. Key Concepts 221 3. Theoretical Knowledge About Physical Development 222 4. Theoretical Knowledge About Sexuality Development 227 5. Theoretical Knowledge About Neurobiology and Neurotransmission 229 6. Theories of Psychosocial Development: The Life Span Approach 230 7. Roads from Erikson 236 8. Theories of Midlife Development 237 9. Life Span Development and Late Adulthood 242 10. Life Span Development of Women 246 11. Shame Resilience Theory 249

12. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, and Intersex Identity Development 255 13. Stage Theories: Popularity Versus Validity 267 14. Contemporary Issues 269 15. Application to Social Work Practice 270 16. Critical Analysis 272 17. Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics 275 18. Philosophical Underpinnings 276 19. Methodological Issues and Empirical Support 277 1. Summary 278 9. Chapter 9 Theories of Cognitive, Moral, and Faith Development 281 1. Historical Context 281 2. Cognitive Development 282 3. Moral Development 295 4. Contemporary Issues 305 5. Application to Social Work Practice 307 6. Critical Analysis 311 7. Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics 312 8. Philosophical Underpinnings 313 9. Methodological Issues and Empirical Support 314 1. Summary 317

10. Chapter 10 Symbolic Interaction 319 1. Historical Context 319 2. Key Concepts 320 3. The Chicago School and Early Interactionism 321 4. Roads from Mead 324 5. Role Theory, Reference Groups, and Socialization Through The Life Cycle 330 6. Contemporary Issues 333 7. Application to Social Work Practice 335 8. Critical Analysis 338 9. Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics 340 10. Philosophical Underpinnings 341 11. Methodological Issues and Empirical Support 342 1. Summary 343 11. Chapter 11 Phenomenology, Social Constructionism, and Hermeneutics 345 1. Historical Context 346 2. Key Concepts 348 3. Roads from Schutz 350 4. Contemporary Issues 358 5. Application to Social Work Practice 358

6. Critical Analysis 362 7. Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics 363 8. Philosophical Underpinnings 364 9. Methodological Issues and Empirical Support 365 1. Summary 366 12. Chapter 12 Behaviorism, Social Learning, and Exchange Theory 368 1. Behaviorism 369 2. Social Learning Theory 374 3. Exchange Theory 381 4. Contemporary Issues 387 5. Application to Social Work Practice 387 6. Critical Analysis 392 7. Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics 394 8. Philosophical Underpinnings 395 9. Methodological Issues and Empirical Support 396 1. Summary 398 13. Chapter 13 Transpersonal and Integral Theories 401 1. Historical Context 401 2. Key Concepts 402 3. Transpersonal and Integral Theories 404

4. Preegoic Stage 416 5. Egoic Stage 418 6. Transegoic Stage 421 7. Contemporary Issues 423 8. Application to Social Work Practice 424 9. Critical Analysis 429 10. Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics 431 11. Philosophical Underpinnings 432 12. Methodological Issues and Empirical Support 432 1. Summary 434 14. Chapter 14 Application of Theories 436 1. Alternative Approaches to Theory Selection 437 2. Measuring Up to the Themes for Critical Reflection on Theories 438 3. Person-Focused Theories 439 4. Environment-Focused Theories 441 5. Twelve Great Ideas 447 6. An Example of Integrating Theories for a Practice Issue 451 7. Roads from Here: Future Possibilities and Challenges for Innovation in Human Behavior Theory 456 1. Glossary 458

2. References 473 3. Discography 509 4. Name Index 510 5. Subject Index 518

1 The Nature of Theories Theories: explain and predict human behavior from micro to macro levels explain and predict the impact of larger social structures on human behavior explain and predict social problems guide social work practice inform social policy direct social work research give credibility to a profession are socially constructed and ideological.

Learning Outcomes Discuss the importance of using human behavior theories in social work practice.

Describe the micro-macro continuum.

Explain how theories are constructed and how this is influenced by ideology.

Compare and contrast the ways in which the organizational and professional contexts of theory impact its development.

Discuss how determinism and reductionism limit our understanding of human behavior.

List questions that can be used for engaging in critical analysis of theory.

During the past few decades, the social work profession has witnessed the proliferation of textbooks on human behavior in the social environment.

Although there is variation in both substance and design, these texts have all demonstrated a growing commitment to systematically integrating content about the social environment into our core knowledge of human behavior. With some exceptions, most attempts to address linkages between the person and the environment have relied heavily on functionalist systems and ecological theories. We believe that although this is an important theoretical perspective, it has led to a rather narrow view of both the environment and human behavior. With this text, we hope to offer a more expansive view of both.

The task of covering essential human behavior content for social work practice is a formidable one at best. As (Brooks 1986 , p. 18) observed: If you are expected to be an expert on the biological, psychological, social, economic, and cultural dimensions of human behavior . . . you are undoubtedly a teacher of Human Behavior and the Social Environment.

This complexity has not changed over the last several decades and, in fact, has become even more daunting due to technological advances that now allow researchers to study the brain (Johnson, 2014). Given that a single textbook cannot adequately cover comprehensive content from six or seven disciplines, we have made deliberate choices in our design of this text. We have chosen a comparative theoretical approach in which we critically compare and contrast the dominant human behavior theories primarily from the disciplines of social work, psychology, social psychology, sociology, and anthropology.

We believe that this contribution is necessary because studies on the human behavior curriculum have found social work courses and previous

textbooks to be dominated by a systems or ecological perspective and a focus on individual life span development (Brooks, 1986; Fiene, 1987; Gibbs, 1986). In her analysis of course and text content, (Fiene 1987, p.

17) concluded that “the addition of systems theory has not altered the continued dominance of the Neo-Freudian, life stages orientation.”

Although several recent textbooks have attempted to introduce a somewhat broader scope of theory and have included frameworks such as feminist theory, symbolic interactionism, and social constructionism, among others (Greene & Schriver, 2016; Kirst-Ashman, 2014; Payne, 2016; Rogers, 2016; Schriver, 2014; Thyer, Dulmus & Sowers, 2012), the overall orientation in social work has not changed significantly. An overriding psychological orientation to human behavior continues to persist, we believe, because of our failure to systematically incorporate substantive interdisciplinary theories into the human behavior curriculum.

We hope that the theories presented in this text lead to a broader understanding of many of the complex forces that shape people’s lives.

A number of social work publications have discussed and debated the role and definition of theory and its utility for social work practice (Forte, 2006; Gomory, 2001; Simon, 1994b; Turner & Maschi, 2015; Thyer, 1994, 2001). Although there are clearly different and contradictory viewpoints on this topic, we believe that a sound knowledge and understanding of theory is essential for social work practice. We discuss the reasons for this in this chapter.

ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK AND RATIONALE FOR SELECTION OF THEORIES Chapter 1 presents a detailed discussion about the nature of theory, its social construction, the role of ideology in theory and practice, and the issues we believe need to be considered in a critical assessment of theory.

Chapters 2 through 6 draw from sociological, anthropological, feminist, empowerment, and social psychological theories as well as theories of political economy that teach us about various sociocultural contexts, structures, processes, and the dynamics of social life. These theories assist us in understanding persistent social conditions and problems such as oppression, poverty, homelessness, violence, and others that are particularly relevant to social work practice. They also aid us in our quest to more fully understand and appreciate human diversity, resiliency, and empowerment.

Chapters 7 through 13 draw from psychoanalytic, psychological, social psychological, and transpersonal theories that teach us about human growth, development, and functioning in various contexts. Although we do not include a separate chapter on biological theory, we do present discussion on the ongoing debate about nature versus nurture and explicit content on physical, biological, and motor changes over the life span. We also present findings of contemporary research about prenatal, neonatal, early childhood, and older age development, normal sexual development in children, and the nature and development of memory.

Finally, Chapter 14 summarizes the previous chapters, compares and contrasts the various theories, provides an application of the theories to a case situation, and outlines some challenges for achieving theory-based practice in social work.

To allow for critical comparison among and between theories, every theory chapter is organized to reflect the following common content: A brief overview of the theory A discussion of the theory’s historical context An overview of the theory’s key concepts A discussion of the theory and its variants A discussion of contemporary issues related to the theory A discussion of the theory’s application to social work practice A critical analysis of the theory (which we discuss in more detail later in this chapter) A summary A case vignette and exercises for application to practice.

The theories contained in this book represent a wide range of historical and contemporary thought that we believe to be essential in understanding human behavior. We also include some insights from time-tested philosophical and cultural traditions that help stretch understanding beyond conventional Eurocentric thinking.

Human behavior is complex; the numerous internal and external forces that interact and shape our personalities, preferences, ideas, beliefs, and actions cannot be explained by any one theory or discipline. With great deliberation we have chosen theories that help us understand the relationship of the individual to society and the relationship of society to the individual. In addition, these theories should help us to achieve a fuller understanding of the complex biological, psychological, social, cultural, spiritual, economic, political, and historical forces that shape our behavior as human beings.

Another random document with no related content on Scribd:

DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller, without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who, as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.

FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER” (Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley, some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing, but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature, from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,

or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.

Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?

The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both “off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the craving for tobacco in the tropics.

Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to

an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and lemon-juice.

Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment, that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.

Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.

My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari; consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had

bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding, consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us, seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten years to come.

Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch: Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9 × 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.

How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his mutilated finger-tips.

Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.

The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface, however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day such a fire is a grand sight.

Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction, sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.

Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush, and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the

western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.

It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process

may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe— not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more, between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them— cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes, perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.

This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the secondary bush.

After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact, receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains, where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were accustomed to rule.

But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and

lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible, impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and come back to his starting point.

The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.

According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast, to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however, correct.

The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau, instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks and springs of the low country.

“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.

He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a stillborn child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which

was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In course of time, the couple had many more children, and called themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams, for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest wateringplace; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”

The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?

Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short, woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood, ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia, Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably) would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded

by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.

The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.

Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.

This knowledge is crystallized in the ancestral warning against settling in the valleys and near the great waters, the dwelling-places of disease and death. At the same time, for security against the hostile Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted that every settlement must be not less than a certain distance from the southern edge of the plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the present day. It is not such a bad one, and certainly they are both safer and more comfortable than the Makua, the recent intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain, especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the

most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.

The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.

It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of “Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have